Topic: King Solomon Hill - Tell Me Baby, King Solomon Hill Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi elhotrod,
Welcome to Weenie Campbell.  You're mistaken, though, all of Joe Holmes' tunes were played out of Vestapol.
All best,
Johnm

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I thought I would try to transcribe King Solomon Hill's "My Buddy, Blind Papa Lemon". I'd very much appreciate help with the bent bracketed places in the lyrics, or any other place I have them wrong. As always, he was playing in Vestapol here, and his time and the way he was making his notes show an unearthly degree of control.  No solos, per se, here--just a constant call-and-response between the voice and the guitar. It's the kind of performance that it would be absolutely futile to try to copy or cover--and I fervently hope never to hear someone try! Here is "My Buddy, Blind Papa Lemon":



Mmmmmmm, said the mailman brought a misery to my head
Mmmmmmm, said the mailman brought a misery to my head
When I received a letter that my friend, Lemon, was dead

I was standin' with my friends, they would mention his name
I say, "That cruel man that you call Death done taken my boy's, his name."

And it's too sad and lonesome, all we got to go
I say when Death come and rap at your hand, he knockin' on your door

I followed him, I want to know why he's lookin' so poor
Here, I got a notice in my mind, and I sure got to go

I heard a bell last night, tollin' in my sleep
And I heard a bell last night, tonin' in my sleep
I been worryin' the whole day long, and I feel like I'm losin' steam

You can hear friends cryin', Lord, you can hear them screamin'
'Cause everybody's got to go
But it's too sad when you lose one of your best friends, and you got to take it dry, just long so

Edited 8/10 to pick up corrections from jpeters609 and Johnm
Edited 8/11 to pick up corrections from banjochris

All best,
Johnm


 

[jpeters609]

In the fourth stanza, he seems to be singing about an encounter he had with Blind Lemon:

"I [    ] him, I wanna know why he lookin' so poor."


In the last stanza, I hear:

"You can hear friends cryin', Lord you can hear them screamin'."

Jeff

[Johnm]

Wow, thanks, Jeff, that is great hearing!  I think the missing word in that earlier verse you got is "followed".  Thanks so much--I expected this one to take a while! I think we got it, and I've made the changes. Thanks!
All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Few more suggestions for Papa Lemon:

3.2 I say when DEATH COME AND RAP AT YOUR HAND, HE knockin' on your door

4.2 HEAR or HERE, I got a notice...

5.1 I HEARD a bell LAST NIGHT, tollin' in my SLEEP
5.2 And I HEARD a bell LAST NIGHT, TONIN' in my SLEEP
(He sings "heard" more like "hear-ed" but very quickly)

Chris

[dj]

I'm not at all sure of the first word of 4.2, but otherwise I agree with Chris's corrections.

That sure is a great performance!

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the catches, Chris, they both better matched the sound and made more sense. I've made the changes, thanks!

[Johnm]

Hi all,
King Solomon Hill's "Tell Me Baby" started this thread, but was never really put in a final form. Once again, he was working in Vestapol with a slide, supposedly fashioned from a cow bone. Places where the guitar is used to fill in vocal phrases are shown parenthetically.  Here is "Tell Me Baby":



INTRO SOLO

Aw tell me, baby, what fault you find by me?
I'm gon' pack my suitcase, beat it back to Tennessee

(Guitar), wrung my hands and cry, (guitar), I've been treated so sly, now
Aw tell me, baby, what fault you find of me?
I'm gonna pack my suitcase, (guitar)

Nickel is a nickel, dime is a dime, wish I had a lovin' mama t' love me all the time, call her, "Baby"
(Guitar)
I'm gonna pack my suitcase, (guitar)

Nickel is a nickel, dime is a dime, got a house full of children, ain't nar' one mine
Aw tell me, baby, (guitar)
(Guitar)

Babe, I can't see, honey, to save my life, why we can't get along as just like man and wife
Aw tell me, baby, what fault you find of me?
I'm gonna pack my suitcase, (guitar)

I said Mama told me, Papa told me too, told me, "Whiskey and women gonna be the ruin of you."
I call my baby, "What fault you find?" (guitar)
(Guitar)

SOLO X 2

Edited 8/19 to pick up correction from Lyndvs
Edited 8/19 to pick up correction from waxwing

All best,
Johnm

 

[Lyndvs]

Nickel is a nickel, dime is a dime, wish I had a lovin' mama ta(to) love me  all the time.
I say Mama told me.... "Whiskey and women gonna be the run of you."
To have the run of something or someone means to have complete control or dominance over it/them.Whiskey and women will control/dominate your life.

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestions, Lyndvs. I've made the change on "t' love". I'm going to stick with "ruin" in the last verse, both because I've heard so many other singers sing the same line using the word "ruin" and because he pronounces the vowel sound making it two syllables, not something you would do if you were saying "run". I think it's just his way of saying "ruin". Thanks!

[waxwing]

In 2.1 I don't really hear anything before the "ung" of the first word. Generally the expression is "wringin' my hands and cryin'" as in  Willie Newburn's Roll and Tumble ("wring your hands and cry"). I would extrapolate it to be "wrung", not "hung", and also add the "in'" to make it "cryin" which seems clear. So the start of 2.1 could be: "Wrung my hands and cryin'"

Regarding "run" vs "ruin" in 6.1, I often wonder about lines, verses or whole songs being rewritten by the A&R people. Particulaly where an artist plays virtually the same arrangement and sings the same melody in most of his material. I know there are anecdotes regarding Blind Boy Fuller being whispered the lyrics written by his A&R guy (can't remember his name, Art something?) because they just wanted to record as many sides as possible as he sold so well. Possibly this is a case where A&R was trying to get him to sing "ruin" but it was outside KSH's vocaulary and he sang "ru-un" as the closest thig that made sense to him. I've heard "ruin" often pronounced as "rune" but never "run". Tough call.

Wax

[Johnm]

Thanks for the suggestions, Wax. Re-listening, I think it is "wrung my hands and cry", and will make the change. I heard, or thought I heard a hard "h" at the beginning of the word, but I'm not hearing that now, rather more like an Elmer Fudd "r". And I should have thought, heads are hung, hands are wrung.
"Run" doesn't make sense to me in the other context--to have the "run" of something is to have complete access to it, like the "run of the country". What's more, "run" would never be pronounced with a draggy, two-syllable vowel sound.

[banjochris]

For what it's worth, I hear "ruin" plain as day in that last verse, pronounced maybe a little oddly because he's singing a two-syllable word in a one-syllable space, common enough in singing – he's still making two distinct vowel sounds there, and neither of them are the "uh" of "run."
Chris

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Earlier in this thread, King Solomon Hill's "Times Has Done Got Hard" was started, but never exactly finished, and I thought I would see if we could get it done. I'd appreciate correction or corroboration of what I have.  Here is "Times Has Done Got Hard":



INTRO Guitar imitates knocking (Spoken: That's the rent man! You know it must got tough, he's comin' here before rent's due.)

Aaaah baby, darling, we've got to move
Aah baby, darling, we got to move
It's something wrong, must be in the office, that mailman is riding through

I say, that rent man, he won't stand no square
I say, that rent man, he say he ain't gonna stand no square
And I ain't gonna stand none of his foolishness, I'll move 'fore I'll stay here

Time has got so tough, I can't pay my rent
And my old brownskin worries me so bad, 'til I ain't got my real good sense

I done spent my money, then I done pawned my clothes
Soon as I told my brownskin 'bout it, she kicked my clothes outdoors (Spoken: Boys, these times is tough!)

GUITAR INTERLUDE (Record skips)

Oooooooo, I won't be bad no more
Mama, you don't get mad with me, yet you kick my clothes outdoors

Lord, I believe, I won't try that kid no more   
I say, doggone a woman, ain't got no more care than to kick my clothes outdoors

GUITAR INTERLUDE (Spoken: Say these tough times'll make you do most anything! Won't me!)

I'm gon' sing this song, I'm gon' moan for joy
I say, "Goodbye, brownskin.", ha ha, "Hello, boys."
For I'm fixin' to leave Milwaukee, I'm goin' back to Chicago

Edited 8/24 to pick up corrections from banjochris

All best,
Johnm

[banjochris]

Only two pretty minor suggestions, John, otherwise I think you've got it.

6.1 I think is Lord, I BELIEVE, rather than "I'm blue"

and that last spoken aside I hear SAY rather than "Baby" at the beginning.

Chris